How did Jesus know that faith would be such a divisive thing?  Matthew records that Jesus warned His followers that persecution was a guarantee for those who chose to follow Him.  But how did He know?  Shouldn’t faith be something that brings peace?  And yet we can look at the world’s history and see wars fought over faith, political campaigns swayed as a result of faith, and families destroyed because of differences in faith.  Jesus promises that His followers will face persecution, and isn’t it interesting that, in the United States, the only faith that doesn’t seem to be protected by the slurs of the media is Christianity?  Atheists are never criticized for slinging mud at Christians.  Nothing negative is ever spoken about Islam.  But Christianity faces critics from all directions.  When that happens, though, we shouldn’t be surprised.  Jesus did promise that this would be the case.  Now all we can do is count it a joy to be included in the sufferings of Christ.